Torn Between Two Worlds
by Charbonne
Summary: Keith had been doing very well to keep his Galra heritage hidden from the Alteans. Then the Blade of Marmora came onto the castleship. And then everything fell apart.


If there are any parts of this that are confusing, you should probably read Culture Shock and Human 101 to understand them. As it is, I am still working on oneshots for Human 101 to actually explain certain concepts and events that happened prior to this story.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1**_

Keith watched as Allura greeted the Galra who came with Shiro and him to the castle. He knew the look quite well, imperious, haughty, with a touch of disdain. He'd never had it directed at him thankfully but he and the other paladins had managed to keep it silent to the two Alteans that Keith wasn't human, well, not fully. Granted, Lance would gloat in private that his rival was an alien and that it took one to best him (Keith always reminded Lance that he was also half-human since that would cause Lance to complain about Keith ruining his moment), and Hunk was determined to try to figure out recipes similar to Earth food to introduce to Keith (he'd discovered a rather nasty allergy to Tulvy nuts as a result), and of course Pidge still ribbed him about being confused about girls (she was being silent still on the matter, though she _did_ state that Keith had a more legitimate reason for being confused than Lance did).

He also didn't blame Allura for her expression either. One of the major reasons why he hadn't said anything about his Galran heritage was because of the war. He knew what happened to the Altean home world, and he knew that his people were directly responsible. He knew that any acknowledgement of his heritage would be met with derision and scorn, and he would probably be booted from the team.

He, after all, had nowhere else to go.

Not that the other Paladins would agree. He knew that Shiro had initially made it a point to let Keith tell everyone else about himself when he was ready. Lance had of course stated bluntly that he _didn't care_ about what Keith was as long as he remembered he was human too. Hunk had made a concentrated effort to understand the differences between Galran culture and human culture to try to understand Keith better and try not to inadvertently insult Keith. Pidge had empathized with a missing family and being alone, and regularly asked if he could teach her Galran writing and language.

It was nice, in a way that Keith hadn't felt in a long time. Inevitably the truth would come out, but he contented himself with the idea that he had a family again, and he wasn't letting that go for anything anytime soon. In that regard, he would fight his own people if it meant that he could protect what he had finally found.

He however found the intrusion of the three Galra onto the castle to be a sort of intrusion into what Keith came to consider his family. The three were definitely taller than he was, though one was smaller than regular Galra. Kolivan, the one that had made Keith go through the trials, was doing the speaking, where the other tall Galra was watching everyone carefully. The shortest of the three gave Keith the creeps, as he kept looking toward the Red Paladin regularly, and if it hadn't been for the mask, he imagined that he was being scrutinized.

"How do we know your intentions are aligned with ours?" Allura queried, her gaze hard as she inspected Kolivan.

"We both oppose Zarkon and what he represents." Kolivan's face was stone, though his voice held a hint of question itself. "I do not understand why you are so reluctant to ally with a Galra against the Emperor. You do have one of our own as a Paladin, after all."

Keith felt his stomach turn to ice, and Allura scoffed. "If you are referring to Shiro, he merely has one of your devices attached to him. That does not make him one of your own."

"I was not referring to the Champion. I was referring to the Halfbreed." Kolivan nodded toward Keith, and suddenly the whole room froze in shock.

Keith could hardly hear past the rushing in his ears. The other Paladins had gone stock still, Hunk muttering about how it was bad, and Pidge giving him a hard elbow to the side. Lance had groaned and muttered something in another language, while Shiro stood watching both Kolivan and Allura. Why, Keith had no idea about.

Allura herself turned in shock and stared at Keith, and then her expression closed off as she suddenly stared through him. "I see." She then turned to look at Kolivan and nodded curtly. "We have an accord then. We shall help each other to rid the universe of Zarkon."

With that, the Paladins were dismissed, and Coran was tasked with showing the Galra to a conference room to discuss things. Allura requested that Hunk, Lance, and Pidge escort the two with Kolivan to rooms, and Shiro join them in conference. She did not acknowledge Keith at all.

Keith hadn't realized that people were moving until Coran passed by him and paused long enough to pat him on the shoulder. "Don't worry my boy. She'll come around eventually."

Keith didn't miss the fact that Coran hesitated before speaking, or the slight stutter before he turned to lead the Galra to the conference room. Pidge passed him next, giving his arm a squeeze with a bite of her lower lip as Hunk stated, "Hey, don't worry about it, we're a team, remember?" as he followed.

Lance snorted as he passed Keith, and paused to let the others walk ahead. "If she decides to kick you off the castle, I've got your back. Plus, you know, Red's probably going to have her say. She really didn't like it when you were in danger, after all." His hands were behind his head, and it was an odd moment as Keith recalled that Lance had been the most aggressive toward him on account of their 'rivalry'. He then proceeded to follow the others, leaving Shiro and Keith alone on the bridge.

"She hates me." Keith didn't want to admit it out loud, but the words came out without his consent, leaving Shiro to grip his shoulder.

"I'll talk to her. After all, you've done as much for the rest of the team as anyone else has." Shiro gave him a considering look. "Are you going to be okay though?"

"She looked at me like I was a delcat. How am I supposed to react to that?" Keith shook his head.

Shiro pressed his lips into a fine line, a look of determination crossing his face. "I don't know what a delcat is, but whatever it is, you're not one. You've shown more honor than some other Galra I've met."

"Slaves don't have honor. They're only alive at the whim of the Emperor." Keith found the quote from many of the Galra he'd run across highly ironic. It'd been drilled into him from the moment he'd been captured, and while the other Paladins tried to tell him otherwise, it stuck.

Shiro clenched his jaw, his expression still concerned, but something seemed like it switched on in his mind. "You're not a slave. Not here. Neither am I. There's no Galra here that would drag us back to the arena to fight."

"I am Galra!" The words hissed, Keith shot a look toward Shiro in challenge. If his ears hadn't been two useless lumps on the sides of his head, he would have imagined they would have laid back in irritation. "I'm the enemy. I always have been. I've tried to be human, but I'm not. Not in the way it should work."

Shiro, to his credit, didn't back down from the look. Instead, his brows furrowed and a frown now marred his features. "How many half-Galra are there? Are they treated with anything resembling respect, or are you the only one? If they had really cared about their people, then they never would have stuck you where they had."

"I was allowed to move around. I could carry my mother's blade with me on the ship. I'm _Galra_ and therefore better than every other slave there is." As soon as he said the last words, he immediately wanted to take them back. Shiro had a sorrowful look on his face, and Keith bit his tongue as he realized the implication of what he said. It hadn't been hard to figure out that whenever he brought up the idea that the Galra were inherently superior, the other Paladins would give each other looks and something be communicated between them all. What, Keith couldn't tell, but every time he got the idea he was missing something big.

Groaning, Keith decided to move, ignoring Shiro in an attempt to go back to his quarters and change. Maybe if he went down to the training deck, he could go a few rounds with the gladiators in there and work off his frustrations. After all, he never had to stay his hand with them, just with the living creatures he fought.

Shiro didn't follow.

* * *

Keith was breathing hard by the fifth level. He'd grown soft, he realized, his fights with the Blade of Marmora proving that quite well. He wasn't an automaton, but he knew just how much punishment he could take, and the fact that he'd gotten injured in the fights proved that he had gotten sloppy. Weak. He growled, teeth bared as the thought ricocheted around in his head. He was neither. He needed to prove that he was neither.

The moment the sixth level started, Keith was wishing he actually had claws instead of hardened fingernails just so that he could rip into the gladiators properly.

By the seventh, he had to take a seat and try and control his breathing. He'd had to resort to using his bayard, his mother's blade (they tried to take his mother's blade and he had wanted to drive it through their throats) unable to become a sword simply for the fact his discipline had slipped. He couldn't focus. He'd become sloppy.

"Freeze training." He hated hearing those words from his own mouth. It was admitting he was weak. However, he needed the break, especially since the Alteans now _knew_ he was Galra and not human.

"Well, this is a surprise." Keith froze, his eyes turning toward the doorway and the unfamiliar voice. "I didn't realize you spent most of your time here."

There stood the short Galra, their face obscured by the mask and a hood covering their head. Keith could almost feel their eyes studying him and he growled low in his throat. "I'm not here for your entertainment, t'czat!"

"I never said you were." The Galra walked into the room fully, their head turning as they examined everything. "I asked and was told I'd find you here, kid."

Never before had he heard a _Galra_ call him a kid before, and Keith had to study the figure carefully. They looked male, but there were some things that didn't completely fit with how a Galra should look. For one thing, his hands (and he was male, now that Keith was studying him carefully) didn't end in the tell-tale claws of their race, and he was certainly short, shorter than any Galra Keith had seen before. "You're a halfbreed."

"Hardly, actually." The Blade settled himself down, and Keith leaned away from him a bit. The Galra then sighed and shook his head. "You know, I'm not going to do anything to you."

"Yeah, because every other Galra since I escaped hasn't tried to attack me." Keith's eyes narrowed, and a frown was firmly in place. "What do you want from me?"

The Galra then pushed his hood back and reached toward his mask. Keith tensed, but the other simply pulled off the mask to reveal what was underneath. "I actually came down to see how much you'd grown."

"No." Keith stared at the figure like they were a ghost. There was no way. He'd seen the ship explode. There hadn't been any survivors. "You're dead."

Tired. Worn. Certainly much older than he remembered with grey touching his temples, but Keith remembered the face well enough even if he hadn't seen it in thirteen years. Same eyebrows, same jaw line, but his eyes looked older. Sadder. Keith found himself scrambling to his feet. "Keith…"

"You're dead. You're dead! You can't be here! Ev balak fek'chi!" Keith hadn't realized that he'd slipped back into Galran so easily until he found the man staring at him. He backed away, not wanting to be anywhere near the man. "You let mom die!"

The man sighed, and it was a man. Human. He'd seen his face imprinted on his nightmares often enough that Keith could pick him out of a lineup easily enough even if the face had become older with time. Running a hand through his hair, he shook his head. "I didn't let your mom die. I thought you two had escaped. I never thought-"

"You never thought what? That the Galra would have caught our pod? That mom had to be zapped into unconsciousness when they cracked it open because she tried to take out their throats to protect us? That for the last thirteen years I'd been stuck as a slave, and the past four years I was fighting for my life? Is that the kind of thinking you never did, _dad?"_

The man stared, his eyes wide as he regarded Keith. "You don't think I tried to get to you when I heard about a halfbreed Galra fighting in the arena? Or when your uncle reported that your mom had been spotted in the mines with you? I tried to get to you two-"

"You didn't try _hard enough!"_ Keith wanted to hiss and spit, and his hands trembled. He clenched them into fists, knowing fully that he'd lost his focus and wouldn't be able to summon his mother's sword if he wanted to. "Mom went into the arena and _died_ there! I expected to die there! Where were you?"

Before his father could respond, the door hissed open, and another Galra stood inside of it. The Galra looked between the two, taking in the situation carefully. "Blake, Kolivan wishes to speak with us. He also mentioned that the Black Paladin was looking for the Red one."

Keith's eyes snapped toward the other Galra, a retort on his lips that his name was _Keith,_ when his fa-no, Blake nodded quietly, standing. "I understand Antok. I'll be there shortly."

Antok nodded, then looked toward Keith who had sprung to his feet while yelling. Keith refused to back down, his eyes narrowed. The other Galra left quietly after that, leaving Keith with the human. There was an awkward stretch of silence between the two as Keith struggled to get his temper back under control. His attention then turned toward Blake. "You should get back with the other Blades."

Blake shook his head. "I'm not a member of their organization, not really."

"Well, isn't that a quiznaking shame? You're not Galra enough for them to consider you being a Blade."

Blake reached out then hesitated. "Keith, look, I'm so-"

"I'm going." Keith turned on his heel and walked out of the room, not wanting to hear it. He didn't want to hear Blake's apology or excuse as to why he'd abandoned them. He could have come at any time, trying to stop everything from happening, but didn't. He hadn't even made an attempt to free them either. Keith didn't know what to think, between the fact that his father hadn't died in the explosion or the possibility that like his father, his mother might also be alive.

Suddenly he paused, realizing that Antok hadn't said where Shiro had wanted any of them to meet. Closing his eyes, he tried to debate with himself about whether he should head to the bridge and potentially run into Allura, or if he should just make his way toward his own room and take a shower. He certainly needed one after his workout on the training deck.

Suddenly he made up his mind, turning to make his way to his room. If the others wanted to talk to him, they could find him easily. After everything today, he wasn't sure he was in the most sociable mood after all.

* * *

Shiro watched, arms crossed, as he waited for Kolivan to leave the room. He wasn't too thrilled with the idea of the plan, since it seemed to be reliant on whether the team could perform their tasks fully or not. That, coupled with the fact that Kolivan had exposed a long-running secret the humans had kept about their companion, and Shiro wasn't exactly having the best of times.

Besides, he'd had to repress his desire to run their technology through their faces ever since they decided to 'test' Keith after he'd tried to get answers about his mother. Keith had nearly died in the trials, and Shiro's first instinct was to protect his team, _all_ of his team, even the prickliest member of it. Keith he figured was probably tearing apart the training deck, which was good since Shiro didn't think Keith needed to hear an argument regarding Allura's blatant racist attitude. Or was that xenophobic? No, racist, as she was only including the Galra in her viewpoint.

Shiro wasn't about to argue with Allura regarding whether the Galra were tyrants or not or that what they'd done to the universe was wrong. It was all wrong. However, he was going to talk to her about how she was treating those Galra that were helping them. They didn't have that many people to help them, as most were either subjugated or working with the empire, and Keith himself was a part of Voltron, regardless of whether or not someone else could be found to pilot Red.

When the door closed behind Kolivan, Shiro chose to stay silent for a moment, to both allow for the Galra leader to make his way to his own people, and to allow for him to collect his thoughts. Thankfully Allura seemed to be studying the maps she had displayed carefully and making notes. When she noticed that Shiro was still in the room, she minimized the map and looked toward him. "Shiro, may I help you?"

"Allura, what's going on?" Shiro was looking her over carefully, and noticed her surprise. "I know you don't like the Galra, and they were the ones that started this whole mess, but you're taking it out on the wrong people."

Allura stiffened, and a frown creased her features. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do." Shiro sighed. "I saw how you reacted with the Blades of Marmora, and when you found out that Keith was part-Galra. I understand that you're still dealing with the loss of your people, but you can't treat those that are trying to help like that."

"Shiro, we have to realize that these people can easily turn against us when it suits them." Allura's frown deepened. "I understand your connection with the halfbr-"

"Keith isn't just a halfbreed." Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, reminding himself he wasn't going to turn this into an argument. "He was just as mistreated by the Galra as I was, probably worse, since he'd lived with them his entire life."

"Which makes him that much more likely to turn on us." Allura folded her hands together and straightened her back. "We don't know how he escaped, or why they decided to keep him to begin with. He could have been planted by them to be a spy."

"Spies don't take suicide runs to fight a losing battle because one of the people they're working against falls." Shiro shifted, pressing on. "There's been plenty of opportunities for Keith to betray us, and he hasn't yet. My memories might still be a mess, but he genuinely despised what had happened to him while we were captives. Heck, he didn't even have to bring me meals during that time either, but he did."

Allura sighed, slumping. "Then what am I supposed to do? I can't fully trust that something could go wrong while we're working with Galra."

Shiro's mouth quirked upward. "Trust that no matter what, we'll do what's right. If something happens, we can take care of it, but you have to give them a chance to prove they're not like the rest of Zarkon's forces."

"That doesn't fill me with great confidence considering that we have one of them as a pilot for Voltron. Zarkon was one as well."

"I know that." Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know Keith though. Stubborn, hotheaded, constantly arguing with Lance, barely says much otherwise? He's still the same person. He hasn't changed. Just your perception."

Allura frowned. "Why do you trust him?"

Shiro took a deep breath, thinking. Then he shook his head in bemusement, wondering how the heck Keith had stood being screamed at when they first met. "Because he was just a scared kid when I first met him, and he didn't trust anyone. I don't even know why he trusts me, especially how I first reacted to him." Shiro hesitated before he spoke again, shaking his head slightly. "He… He hates himself too. It has everything to do with the fact he's torn between two peoples and both hate each other. I don't know how he deals with everything, but he's trying."

Allura sighed, slumping back into a chair and letting her regal posture fall. "I guess I shall try as well. I don't know how successful I will be however. I wish I had your confidence in everything."

Shiro gave her a smile, and suddenly remembered a saying that he was sure applied. "I'm not confident, not as much as you think, but there's a saying on Earth. 'Fake it till you make it.' I'm confident that we will beat Zarkon, and that we'll survive everything. Not so much on the details, but I make others confident even when I'm not so much. You could try it and see if it works."

Allura had a curious expression on her face, but said nothing. Instead she nodded, her expression thoughtful. "Perhaps someone should offer that saying to Keith? Perhaps it would help him to understand you humans better."

Shiro paused, and realized that Allura might have a point. "I'll keep that in mind for the next time I talk to him." With that, he left the conference room, knowing he had to hunt down the other paladins to give them their assignments. He didn't care much for them, but apparently the Blade of Marmora wasn't going to blindly follow along with Voltron, and had requested that the paladins manage the more dangerous tasks. If there was one thing Shiro was confident about, it was that he knew his team had pulled off impossible tasks before, and would do so again if necessary.

* * *

"Oh, come on mullet! Open the door already!"

Pidge paused on her way to the bay, her curiosity piqued as she regarded the scene before her. Hunk was seated cross-legged in the hallway against a wall, clearly watching the spectacle in front of him. Meanwhile Lance stood in front of Keith's door, his expression exasperated as he yelled futilely at it. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Keith was on the other side of said door and apparently refusing to come out of it.

Settling herself next to Hunk, she turned to her not-crazy friend and jerked a thumb as Lance let off a string of Spanish she was certain would have gotten her in big trouble. "So what's the reasoning behind this?"

Hunk shrugged. "Not sure. Lance said something about Keith being monosyllabic when he crossed him about fifteen minutes ago, and that Shiro had called a meeting. Except, well, Keith hasn't come out of his room and Lance has been trying to get him out of it for the past ten." Hunk winced when Lance let off another string of Spanish followed by a yell of getting 'your emo Galra ass' out of Keith's room by force. "It's not working so far."

"Obviously," Pidge said drily. She shifted to slide down the wall to sit next to Hunk. "So how much trouble is Lance going to be in when Shiro realizes that he's not at the meeting?"

Hunk made a vague gesture. "About as much trouble as Keith's going to be in when he doesn't show up either."

Pidge then looked toward the door again, gauging the scene before she stood up. Ignoring Lance, she walked up to the door and knocked. "Keith, come out. Lance is acting like an idiot and you refusing to come out is only making it worse. It can't be that bad."

Silence met her request, and she rolled her eyes. She gave Lance a look and the Blue Paladin held up his hands. "I haven't done anything. Something must have made him decide to be antisocial, and he won't talk about it."

"That's hardly surprising." No one had missed the way Allura had looked at Keith, and with Galra on the ship, Pidge could only guess that the reason why Keith was acting this way was in response to it. "Keith, if you don't open this door, I'm going to hack it and drag you out of there!" She stood back, tapping her foot in annoyance as the other two stared at her. However, before either could comment, the door slid open and Keith frowned at the three. His hands were curled at his side, and Pidge proceeded to snort. "Took you long enough."

"Okay, I'm out." Keith looked at the three other paladins and crossed his arms. "Not that it makes a difference."

Lance snorted. "Are you serious? What, just because the princess is being all crazy doesn't mean that we all are. You're just being emo about all of this."

Keith gave Lance a confused look and Pidge nearly rolled her eyes again. "He means you're being all moody and distant, and he's right. Allura can think what she wants, but that doesn't change the fact that everyone in the castle is already used to you being alien." She paused, and the buried her face in her hands. "Oh god, you got me to say Lance was right. He's going to gloat about that for weeks now, you know that, right?"

"He is standing right here, you know." Lance planted his hands on his hips and gave Pidge a mock glare before switching his attention to Keith. "Look, Shiro called a meeting, and you holing up in your room isn't doing anyone any favors. Besides, I told you I had your back. I'm still going to raise hell if you're kicked off the ship, and Blue's basically been agreeing with me this entire time. We're not letting that happen to you just because you're a Galra."

"Which, um, that means me and Coran can update your medical files for that, right?" When Lance and Pidge stared at Hunk, he shrugged. "Eh, he cornered me once and asked about it. I didn't say you were a Galra, but Coran pretty much knows. He said something about the healing pods recording species types to prevent problems with treatments and it coming up."

"And if Coran hasn't had an issue with it, then the only one that does is Allura." Pidge crossed her arms. "Like it or not, but you have an entire team right behind you to help. Just because it came out doesn't make it the end of the world."

Keith looked between the three other paladins, his expression conflicted. "Wait, you mean you really don't mind? I thought you were going to side with the princess."

"I have _not_ been teaching you Earth culture if all I was going to do was ditch you the first time something bad happened." Lance looked offended at the notion.

Hunk looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "I got some recipes for Galran food that I wanted to try out. Doesn't seem right if I make them and you're not around to try it. Plus, you know, the whole time I've been trying to learn about your culture and everything. I could ask Shiro about it, but it wouldn't be the same if I didn't find out from someone that actually knows it and lives it, and it's kind of weird to ask the Marmora guys about it."

Pidge looked back to Keith, her expression mulish. "Besides, you haven't finished teaching me Galra. You'd be pretty fegresh if you didn't finish that."

"Felgresh." When everyone stared at Lance, he shrugged. "Hey, I've got an ear for language, and he speaks it often enough I've picked some things up."

"Um, what's felgresh?" Hunk looked between the other two humans, confused. "That's like an insult, isn't it?"

Keith groaned and buried his face in his hands. "All right, fine, but if we all get ejected out of the nearest air lock, it's not my fault."

Lance waved his hand in dismissal. "Been there, done that. If I remember right, you saved me. Only decent that I return the favor."

Pidge inclined her head toward the bay. "If we're done, we kind of need to get to the bay. Shiro called a meeting, remember?"


End file.
